Gleaming buildings, nationally respected doctors and the latest in expensive medical care haven’t added up to top rankings when it comes to the health of Sangamon County residents.

That has been surprising to some local leaders, who now are preparing to probe reasons for the county’s relatively poor showing and wade into what could become an extended and controversial discussion of potential solutions.

The public is invited to join in as the investigation begins Feb. 10, when a Wisconsin-based official from the County Health Roadmaps project speaks at a free, 6 p.m. public forum in Theater 3 at the Hoogland Center for the Arts, 420 S. Sixth St., Springfield.

“You just can’t look to your medical school or your hospital or your health department to improve health in your community,” said Julie Willems Van Dijk, deputy director of the project at the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute in Madison.

She will explain more about Sangamon County’s ranking of 80 out of 102 Illinois counties in the 2013 County Health Rankings and Roadmaps report, which is produced by the institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Willems Van Dijk, 53, who holds a doctorate degree in nursing, will discuss some issues highlighted by the data that Sangamon County leaders might want to address.

“This is a starting point to understand health in a community, not a complete picture,” she said.

Willems Van Dijk also will point out examples of communities that have taken action and achieved some success.

“There’s a lot to be learned,” she said. “It relies on the leadership and passion in your community.”

Troubling numbers

Willems Van Dijk was invited to Springfield by Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, which in August launched its office of community health and service.

Dr. David Steward, a longtime SIU faculty member and the office’s director, said SIU officials hope Willems Van Dijk’s visit leads to more discussion and strategies for intervening in the trends behind negative health statistics that have surprised some people in the community.

Page 2 of 3 - Sangamon ranked second in the state in the report’s “clinical care” category, apparently because of the relatively high number of doctors based in Springfield — more than 900 — and the density of medical services.

But the county ranked 95th on “morbidity,” or quality of life, 74th in “social and economic factors,” 54th in “health behaviors” and 60th in “physical environment.”

Other areas worth focusing on, Willems Van Dijk said, may include the 18 percent adult smoking rate, an adult obesity rate of 29 percent and a relatively high rate of violent crime.

The county’s rate of low-income residents living far from a grocery store is almost twice the state average, according to the data.

And the impact of poverty and other stresses on families are evident, Willems Van Dijk said. One out of every four Sangamon County children lives below the poverty line, and more than one-third of children live in single-parent homes.

‘Haves’ vs. ‘have-nots’

The health rankings don’t give racial breakdowns, but census data indicate half of all black children in the county — and 11 percent of white children — live in poverty.

More than 80 percent of black children in Sangamon County live in single-parent homes, compared with 24 percent for white children, according to census data.

County leaders might want to investigate disparities among racial and other groups, Willems Van Dijk said, adding that gaps between “haves” and “have-nots” also might explain some of the education data.

Twenty-one percent of the county’s eighth-graders don’t make it to high school graduation even though 70 percent of Sangamon adults ages 25 to 44 have at least some post-secondary education, she said.

Steward said he suspects that poverty and lack of good-paying jobs, combined with racial and economic disparities, play a role in many of the county’s health problems.

“The challenge to this is the solutions aren’t easy,” he said.

Communities that have taken action to address issues pointed out by County Health Rankings haven’t been able to change their poverty rates or overall economic climate as they emerge from the Great Recession, Willems Van Dijk said. But she said they have seen successes on a smaller scale.

“If we can’t fix poverty tomorrow, what can we do to improve neighborhoods?” she asked.

Many communities that have been honored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation for their initiatives have focused on reforming schools, establishing bicycle paths and more sidewalks, making breakfast available to all children and creating job opportunities for at-risk youth, she said.